Los Angeles Angels designated hitter Shohei Ohtani, right, of Japan, hits a solo home run in front of Tampa Bay Rays catcher Wilson Ramos, center, and home plate umpire Laz Diaz during the ninth inning of a baseball game in Anaheim, Calif., Thursday, May 17, 2018. (AP Photo/Alex Gallardo)

ANAHEIM, CA – MAY 17:Tyler Skaggs #45 of the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim pitches against the Tampa Bay Rays in the first inning at Angel Stadium on May 17, 2018 in Anaheim, California. (Photo by John McCoy/Getty Images)

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Los Angeles Angels first baseman Albert Pujols, left, reaches out to catch a fly ball in the Tampa Bay Rays dugout hit by Wilson Ramos during the first inning of a baseball game in Anaheim, Calif., Thursday, May 17, 2018. (AP Photo/Alex Gallardo)

ANAHEIM, CA – MAY 17: Chris Archer #22 of the Tampa Bay Rays pitches against Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim in the second inning at Angel Stadium on May 17, 2018 in Anaheim, California. (Photo by John McCoy/Getty Images)

Los Angeles Angels starting pitcher Tyler Skaggs throws to a Tampa Bay Rays batter during the first inning of a baseball game in Anaheim, Calif., Thursday, May 17, 2018. (AP Photo/Alex Gallardo)

Tampa Bay Rays starting pitcher Chris Archer throws to a Los Angeles Angels batter during the first inning of a baseball game in Anaheim, Calif., Thursday, May 17, 2018. (AP Photo/Alex Gallardo)

Tampa Bay Rays second baseman Joey Wendle, right, relays to first after forcing out Los Angeles Angels’ Andrelton Simmons, left, to get Ian Kinsler for the double play during the fourth inning of a baseball game in Anaheim, Calif., Thursday, May 17, 2018. (AP Photo/Alex Gallardo)

ANAHEIM, CA – MAY 17: C.J. Cron #44 of the Tampa Bay Rays hits a home run in the sixth inning against the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim at Angel Stadium on May 17, 2018 in Anaheim, California. (Photo by John McCoy/Getty Images)

Tampa Bay Rays’ C.J. Cron, right, hits a solo home run in front of Los Angeles Angels catcher Martin Maldonado during the sixth inning of a baseball game in Anaheim, Calif., Thursday, May 17, 2018. (AP Photo/Alex Gallardo)

ANAHEIM, CA – MAY 17: C.J. Cron #44 of the Tampa Bay Rays crosses the plate after a home run while Martin Maldonado #12 of the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim looks on in the sixth inning at Angel Stadium on May 17, 2018 in Anaheim, California. (Photo by John McCoy/Getty Images)

ANAHEIM, CA – MAY 17:C.J. Cron #44 of the Tampa Bay Rays is congratulated on his home run by Daniel Robertson #28 of the Tampa Bay Rays in the sixth inning against the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim at Angel Stadium on May 17, 2018 in Anaheim, California. (Photo by John McCoy/Getty Images)

ANAHEIM, CA – MAY 17: C.J. Cron #44 of the Tampa Bay Rays is congratulated for his sixth inning home run against the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim at Angel Stadium on May 17, 2018 in Anaheim, California. (Photo by John McCoy/Getty Images)

Tampa Bay Rays’ C.J. Cron kicks the ball out of the glove of Los Angeles Angels second baseman Ian Kinsler on a steal of second base during the seventh inning of a baseball game in Anaheim, Calif., Thursday, May 17, 2018. (AP Photo/Alex Gallardo)

Tampa Bay Rays’ Denard Span hits a two-run home run in front of Los Angeles Angels catcher Martin Maldonado during the seventh inning of a baseball game in Anaheim, Calif., Thursday, May 17, 2018. (AP Photo/Alex Gallardo)

The Rays’ Denard Span hits a two-run home run during the seventh inning of Thursday’s game against the Angels at Angel Stadium. (Photo by John McCoy/Getty Images)

ANAHEIM, CA – MAY 17: Kole Calhoun #56 of the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim looks at the home run ball hit by Denard Span #2 of the Tampa Bay Rays in the seventh inning at Angel Stadium on May 17, 2018 in Anaheim, California. (Photo by John McCoy/Getty Images)

Tampa Bay Rays’ Denard Span, right, rounds third after hitting a two-run home run off Los Angeles Angels relief pitcher Jim Johnson, foreground, during the seventh inning of a baseball game in Anaheim, Calif., Thursday, May 17, 2018. (AP Photo/Alex Gallardo)

ANAHEIM, CA – MAY 17: C.J. Cron #44 of the Tampa Bay Rays congratulates Denard Span #2 on his 2 run home run in the seventh inning against the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim at Angel Stadium on May 17, 2018 in Anaheim, California. (Photo by John McCoy/Getty Images)

ANAHEIM, CA – MAY 17: Johnny Field #10 of the Tampa Bay Rays hits a home run in the eight inning against the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim at Angel Stadium on May 17, 2018 in Anaheim, California. (Photo by John McCoy/Getty Images)

Tampa Bay Rays starting pitcher Chris Archer reacts after throwing a pitch for a ball to Los Angeles Angels’ Andrelton Simmons during the seventh inning of a baseball game in Anaheim, Calif., Thursday, May 17, 2018. (AP Photo/Alex Gallardo)

Los Angeles Angels designated hitter Shohei Ohtani, right, of Japan, get congratulations from third base coach Dino Ebel after hitting a solo home run against the Tampa Bay Rays during the ninth inning of a baseball game in Anaheim, Calif., Thursday, May 17, 2018. (AP Photo/Alex Gallardo)

The Angels’ Shohei Ohtani is congratulated as he returns to the dugout following his ninth-inning home run during Thursday’s game against the Tampa Bay Rays at Angel Stadium. The Rays won 7-1. (Photo by John McCoy/Getty Images)

Tampa Bay Rays left fielder Denard Span, right, celebrates with third baseman Daniel Robertson, left, and second baseman Joey Wendle after the Rays defeated the Los Angeles Angels 7-1 in a baseball game in Anaheim, Calif., Thursday, May 17, 2018. (AP Photo/Alex Gallardo)

Not long after a C.J. Cron homer put the game’s first run on the board, a statement against the team that traded him, the Angels saw Justin Upton, their hottest hitter, leave the game after being hit by a pitch.

It all happened in one painful sixth inning of the Angels’ 7-1 loss to the Tampa Bay Rays on Thursday night, a game that ran their losing streak to three and also included a new personal worst for Mike Trout.

Initial X-rays on Upton’s left hand showed no fracture, the team announced, so he’s considered day to day. If he ends up missing only a couple days, the Angels would certainly have dodged what could have been a serious issue.

“It feels OK,” Upton said. “Obviously it’s going to be sore. We’ll see how it feels tomorrow. Hopefully, it’s not too bad and we can work through it.”

Upton is the Angels’ hottest hitter, leading the majors in RBIs in May. He had hit seven of his 11 homers this month, hitting out of the Angels’ No. 3 spot.

The injury, hours after Keynan Middleton had said he will have Tommy John surgery, was the capper to what was certainly the Angels’ worst day of the season so far, a day chock full of negative developments.

Trout is going through a rare cold spell. Trout is now hitless in 19 at-bats, the longest drought of his career. It’s been masked somewhat by seven walks during the stretch. In his last at-bat, he hit a solid fly ball to deep center field, which he said was an encouraging sign.

“It’s just timing,” he said. “I’m just late right now. My results aren’t there, but the last at-bat felt better. Just got to work off that.”

It was part of a team-wide offensive outage, resulting in a scoreless streak that reached 21 innings before Shohei Ohtani’s homer in the ninth. The Angels have scored eight runs in their last five games. After Justin Verlander blanked the Angels on Wednesday, they went down against Chris Archer on Thursday. Typically a solid pitcher, Archer was perhaps due for a good game after bringing a 5.64 ERA into this one.

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On the mound, the Angels saw two more of their relievers struggle. Jim Johnson entered in a 1-0 game and gave up four runs in the seventh. Felix Peña gave up two runs in the eighth.

Two of the runs scored against Johnson when Denard Span hit a homer off the right field wall, above the new line added this year. It was the sixth homer of the season hit by the opponents that wouldn’t have been a homer last year. The Angels have hit three.

Another run against Johnson scored after Zack Cozart dropped a popup. It was the second straight game when Cozart made an error that directly led to a run.

And finally, there was the Cron homer, which probably stung Angels fans more than it did the team itself.

Cron has hit 11 homers this year, including three in his last three games. He is playing the kind of baseball he rarely played with the Angels. According to Cron, and many Angels fans, the only difference is the Rays have given him a chance to play consistently.

The good news was the Cron homer was all that Tyler Skaggs allowed in his six innings. He lowered his ERA to 2.88 as he continues the best extended stretch of his career. Skaggs struck out seven and walked three.

It was the 17th straight game that the Angels’ starter had allowed three runs or fewer, a franchise record. They had 16-game streaks in 1964 and 1989.

Unfortunately for the Angels’ the good starting pitching has come at a time when the support has been absent from the lineup and the bullpen.

“We’re not firing on all cylinders,” Manager Mike Scioscia said. “We’re putting a lot of pressure on our starting pitching. When these guys start hitting like we can and we keep the pitching going, well be fine.”

Jeff Fletcher has covered the Angels since 2013. Before that, he spent 11 years covering the Giants and A's and working as a national baseball writer. Jeff is a Hall of Fame voter. In 2015, he was elected chairman of the Los Angeles chapter of the Baseball Writers Association of America.

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